York Gate Garden, Leeds

Recently I discovered the existence of a little gem.  A little gem of a garden, York Gate Garden in Adel (rhymes with paddle) near Leeds.  If there's one thing William and I both enjoy it's taking a peak round a pretty garden so a couple of weeks ago on a very sunny day we were in for a treat when we paid a visit to York Gate Garden.

The website directions said to park in a lay-by opposite Adel Parish Church and follow the path through the church yard which would lead eventually to York Gate Garden.

This church dating back to the 12th century has a lot of interesting features not least of all the crosses marked in the flags.  William and I had never seen that before in any other church.  Maybe it's a feature unique to this church?  I looked for information on the church website but didn't find any mention of the path.  Perhaps I missed it and need to go back and check again.

This was  our first glimpse of the garden and I knew straight away it was something special.

Covering just one acre the garden is a series of "rooms", one leading artfully to the next.

Every which way we turned there was a feast for the eyes.

Neither of us knows the names of half the plants we see, we just like what we see and that's enough for us.

Pretty dahlias amongst an array of orange and yellow blooms.

Very pretty dahlias.  I loved the orange/yellow colours against the dark foliage.

This was my favourite view in the garden. That young man is the official gardener and the rest of the team is made up of volunteers.  They don't half do a good job between them.

Lots and lots of different trees and shrubs.

This is the Canal Garden. Just beautiful. There were fish in there as well as water lilies.

My cup was overflowing when we turned a corner and came across the most varied and colourful, healthy display of succulent plants I've ever had the pleasure to behold.

Love all these succulents, they are probably my favourite plants of all time.

The herb garden.

The house once occupied by the Spencer family now functions as offices and tea rooms.  

A lovely spot to eat lunch or afternoon tea but it was just too hot outdoors  This heatwave we're having is a joy but this English rose cannot sit under a burning hot sun so we took refuge in the tearooms where we ...

.. tucked into home made scones and jam.  Delicious!

Before we left we took a look in the gift shop.  York Gate once a family owned garden is now run by the horticulturists charity Perrenial.  The stock is naturally all garden related and we purchased a couple of cute items.  Oh, and before we looked in the shop we took another twirl around the garden.  That was how much we had enjoyed everything the garden had to offer.

My pictures of this amazing "little" garden don't do it justice at all.  The beauty of this garden really has to be seen in person to be truly appreciated.  I can't wait to go back again!

Tintagel, Cornwall 2017

In early November last year on a beautiful blustery, sharp, not to mention cold, day Tintagel in Cornwall was a great place to be.  And that's where William and I along with Maureen and Jerry were lucky enough to find ourselves.  

We had all stayed in Wadebridge, Cornwall for a week the previous autumn and here we were again for another week.  Wanting to find different places to visit Tintagel was high on the recommended list of places to go.  This was the first visit for all of us and we loved the place.

The paths which lead to Tintagel Castle are down at the bottom of the village and taking the higher of the two paths Maureen, Jerry and I braved the elements to reach the cliff top and feast our eyes on Tintagel Castle and the coastline surrounding it.  William had stayed in the village, he didn't feel up to the climb that day.

Here we had reached the end of the path and were practically being blown away by the high winds.  You can see from the big smiles on our faces that the elements were not bothering us one little bit.

From our vantage point we looked down the many, steep wooden steps clinging to the rock side, to the bridge crossing the deep ravine...

and then on up the steps on the other side to the castle.  Actually it's the castle remains that are visible today but steeped in history the spot is mesmerising.  "Tintagel Castle is a medieval fortification built in the 13th century".  I quoted from Wikipedia there.

The coastline is nothing if not stunning.

And nothing if not rugged.

On the way back to the village now and a view of the lower path which we joined to take us back up to the village.

Tintagel village is interesting.  This is the Old Post Office, a building which dates back to the 14th century and since 1903 has been owned by the National Trust.  

There's a very good visitor centre up at the top end of the village too where we spent some time reading up on the history of the castle and the surrounding area.  A little something I now remember from the visitor centre was a little note in the visitor's comments book.  An American couple had signed the book, nothing out of the ordinary there but it made us smile when after the comment was a little note saying "Sorry world I didn't vote for him!" and her husband had written "I'm sorry too.  I didn't vote for him either". 

So, yes, we definitely enjoyed our visit to Tintagel and would certainly go again.

Charlie Was Team Captain Today.

Nine year old Charlie is football mad.  He plays footy every day.. at lunchtime at school, trains one evening a week,  plays for a team on a Sunday morning and any other time in between he can fit it in.  

Today Charlie was team captain.  Luckily grandad and I went along to watch the match this morning.   Of course his mum, Caroline, was there too.  The weather was rather cold and rather dull this morning but happily the action on the field was anything but dull!

That's Charlie up there going over for a high five after one of his team mates had scored a goal. 

I'm no good at football commentary but I know it was an exciting match today and I managed to catch a few action shots from the sideline.

I caught a couple of goals going in too.  This is one of Charlie's goals in the making.  That ball is heading right for the back of the net!

This great goal too and they kept on coming!

More action with Charlie right in the middle of it.

Yep, there was lots of exciting stuff happening on the pitch today.  That's Charlie chasing the ball on the left hand side.

It was a great match for Charlie, not only was he Captain, but he scored two goals and the team won 6-1.  

Well done Charlie and well done Tigers!

Good Old Cleveleys

On a cold and blustery day back in October last year William and I along with the Goodalls, packed a picnic, grabbed enough coats, hats and scarves to keep us all nice and toasty warm, loaded everything into Gary's van and headed to good old Cleveleys for a day by the sea.

There is nothing like a picnic on the prom.  The bracing sea air, the seagulls, the sea view and family to share it with make it a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Nicholas found a perch on which to consume his picnic.  I have several other pictures from over the years of Nicholas on this perch.

William was freezing so Victoria and Gary stepped in to warm him up with a group hug.

A daughter and her dad moment.

A mum and her son moment.

A family moment.

The boys had their bikes with them and had fun on the sand riding in and out of the water. This was a first, riding on the sand, as far as I can remember.

A grandson and his grandad moment.

And another of Nicholas sitting on his grandad's knee.  When he sat up there Nicholas remembered...

.. this baby picture of him and grandad and wanted to recreate it.  It made me smile because it was completely his idea.

Taken almost ten years ago to the day.  What a difference a decade makes!

We had a lovely time together that day back in October.  I remember though that Gary didn't feel too good.  I'm sure the fresh air did him a power of good though.

Until next time,